Silver Bells

Bestseller Michaels (Hokus Pokus ) headlines a quartet of heartwarming Christmas romances. In both Duarte's “A Mulberry Park Christmas” (which shares a setting with Mulberry Park ) and Michaels's title tale, childhood sweethearts are reunited despite the pressures of adult life. In “Dear Santa...,” Ross (Impulse ) strands mystery novelist Holly Berry in a blizzard-swept town, where she meets hunky hotelier Gabe O'Halloran and finds his five-year-old daughter is a determined matchmaker. Burton (I'm Watching You ) contributes “Christmas Past,” in which widowed homicide sergeant David Ayden helps talented photographer Nicole Piper cope with the legacy of her late, violently abusive husband. It's a close fit, but each short story contains a full-fledged romance from first kiss to happy ending, both satisfying readers and encouraging them to seek out the authors' longer works. (Nov.)